BOA Blog

Barton Sutter featured in Pretty Much 100% Scandinavian documentary

November 22, 2013

Barton Sutter's The Reindeer Camps(BOA, 2012) is featured in Saga 4 of award-winning Swedish filmmaker Stefan Quinth’s Pretty Much 100% Scandinavian, a series of documentaries about Scandinavian-Americans living in the American Midwest. The film, co-produced with Dr. William Beyer, reveals how the Scandinavian heritage is still very present in the lives of its descendants.
Saga 4, which focuses on Scandinavian-American artists and craftspeople, features Sutter's reading of three poems from The Reindeer Camps: "Swedish Lesson," "Whistle Dance," and "Not Sleeping at Bill Holm's House." This latest installment premiered at the American Swedish Institute in October.
"The descendants of U.S. immigrants from Scandinavia aim their arts and craft toward everyday elegance," says the Institute. "The goal is the practical beauty so prized in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Award-winning Swedish filmmaker Stefan Quinth (CameraQ) and former ASI staff member Dr. William Beyer bring you close to Midwesterners drawing on Scandinavian traditions to create arts and craft of practical beauty. Through interviews, performances, and still photos, Saga 4 explores ... individual painters, writers, weavers, wood carvers, instrument makers..."
Previous sagas of the series have been featured on more than 50 PBS stations across the United States, and according to Sutter, "the filmmakers think Saga 4 is the best of the lot." The series is sold as a DVD set.
Barton Sutter's book The Reindeer Campsis available at the BOA Bookstore.
Visit Camera Q's website to read more about Pretty Much 100% Scandinavian.